Originally Posted by
bryanwallace
i understand this is collected when you book the tkt-so if you are in transit is it possible if you have a long layover to go out of the airport without paying the charge?
The airline will have to pay the charge to the gov't (they check your passports in and out). Whether the airline will bother to collect the extra charge when you check-in at SYD to continue your transit depends upon your airline and possibly FF status. Often it is collected as >$50 triggers a threshold or requires a supervisor override. Sometimes it is charged back to the T/A for the ticket (this happens all the time on my corporate tickets as they are always collected after the fact and I make frequent changes).